


Lances, Lies, And Zofian Spies

by 4wholecats



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Gen, angst but not really, based off a headcanon, berkut and rudolph talk about zeke, there are some angsty implications
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 13:38:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11314521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4wholecats/pseuds/4wholecats
Summary: Berkut doesn't trust General Ezekiel, but whether he stays is not his decision to make.





	Lances, Lies, And Zofian Spies

Emperor Rudolph stood, leaning against a stone pillar as he gazed down at the barracks below. Beneath him lay the massive courtyard of this military base, where soldiers trained for upcoming battles. The war against Zofia was becoming more and more demanding, and new recruits needed to be trained quickly and efficiently in order to keep Rigel’s army strong. The threat of invasion was becoming more and more imminent every day, and as Rudolph stared down at the clashing swords below he wondered if Alm was also training, many miles away. The boy would need his strengths in the months to come.

 

He was so focused on his men that he almost didn't register Berkut coming to stand at his side. He didn’t even have to turn around to see who it was, since the aura of pure unapproachability radiated off his nephew so harshly that he could feel the man’s scowl from a foot away. 

 

“Berkut. How do you fair today?” The Emperor asked the young man, who looked like he had just recently eaten a frog. 

 

Rudolph had practically raised the boy, and yet he still had trouble starting conversations with him. The paladin was so serious, yet so prone to emotional outbursts that it was wise to tread carefully when speaking to him.

 

“I am well, your Majesty. What are you doing, standing here at this hour?” responded Berkut stiffly. 

 

Rudolph sighed as he watched a young woman fall out of her saddle and onto the dirt.

 

“It is my duty as king to oversee Rigel’s great army, so I must watch over the new recruits and make sure everyone is learning what they need to. Rigel needs as many soldiers as she can get.” 

 

“Of course, uncle,” Berkut responded, “I have done well to make sure all of my subordinates are prepared to march on Zofia in due time.”

 

“Excellent,” said Rudolph after a brief pause. It wasn’t excellent at all, to see his family face each other on the battlefield, even though in a short time, it would be his turn in front of Alm’s sword. 

 

The young woman was being helped off the ground by a cleric. Judging by the limp in her step, that fall would leave a bruise in the morning. The woman’s opponent, the new general that had been recently labeled as “Ezekiel”, also lept down from his horse, and began leading it back towards the stables. 

 

“I did what you asked of me, your Majesty.” Berkut spoke again, eyes now on a small clump of archers in the corner of the courtyard, apparently discussing the topic of quivers very animatedly. 

“The Gradivus is in the catacombs, safe from Zofian hands?” Rudolph asked, only now glancing up at his nephew. 

 

“Yes sir. The dogs of the Deliverance will not get their hands on it, at least not while the castle still stands,” Berkut assured, nodding his head so that his bangs fluttered in front of his dark eyes. 

 

The Gradivus was a very powerful weapon, a weapon that certainly did not belong in Rigel, or anywhere on the Valentian continent. It had washed ashore near the castle one day. A guard had picked it up out of the sand and brought it back to the castle to show off to his friends, but Rudolph had immediately confiscated it, knowing this was no every-man’s weapon. The lance was powerful, and would definitely be an advantage against the Zofian army, which was precisely why it was now locked away beneath the castle. Alm and his friends didn’t need another thing standing in their way. 

 

The two royals were quiet for a few more minutes, until Berkut spoke up again.

 

“Why do you trust him so much, your Majesty?”

 

“Trust who? I trust a lot of people.” Rudolph said, knowing very well where this conversation was headed, based off Berkut’s opinions of newcomers, especially newcomers that live in small, insignificant peasant villages.

 

“The new general. General… Ezekiel. Why did you help him?”

 

“Is it not the responsibility of the Emperor to help his people?”

 

“He is not one of “your people” as far as we know.” Berkut stated, not entirely wrong. The Emperor continued gazing out across the barracks, a bemused expression on his face. 

 

“I still have my suspicions as to whether or not he’s a Zofian spy.” Berkut wasn’t going to let this one go, it seemed. 

 

“He’s not a Zofian spy, I assure you.”

 

“But how can you be sure?”

 

“Oh I’m reasonably sure”

 

“Uncle, forgive my bluntness, but I believe his amnesia is a front. You’ve let him have almost all the information he wants, and one day he’s going to walk out of here, back to whoever he’s working for, and then we could be in big trouble.” Berkut said as his eyebrows ascended towards his hairline. Emperor Rudolph gave a hearty laugh as the younger man continued looking at him incredulously.

 

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what is so humorous about this situation, sir.” He said, voice teetering on the edge of some dangerous emotional tripwire.

 

“Berkut, you’ve studied tactics, haven’t you?”

 

“Of course sir, all generals do.”

 

“Have you studied Archanian tactics at all?” The Emperor said, turning away from the window and beginning to walk slowly down the hall, leaving his nephew to follow him. Berkut’s eyebrows knitted together, clearly not seeing where this conversation was headed.

 

“A bit sir, but why?” Berkut’s voice got very low, “Are you saying Ezekiel may be an Archanian spy?”

 

“Closer, but not quite.” Rudolph said, turning a corner, finally coming to stand at the entrance to his private library. Unlike the castle archive, this room only had one key, and Rudolph kept it on him at all times. Inside were all sorts of sensitive documents that were for the Emperor’s eyes only. Rudolph reached up to turn the key in the lock and eased the large double doors open. Berkut hesitated for a moment before entering after his uncle. 

 

The room, unlike the more public archive, was rather small. There was a single desk in one corner and a small table in the middle of the room, but other than that, there was no furniture other than the bookshelves, which stretched from wall to wall all the way up to the ceiling. Berkut took a seat at the table as Rudolph walked up to one of the shelves, looking for something.  

 

“You see, my boy, I believe that I knew Ezekiel before he was brought here. We met only briefly, but I remember him well. I’ve met a lot of people on diplomatic missions, so I had forgotten for a while, but when he arrived at the castle I knew exactly who he was.” Rudolph pulled a book off the shelf, and continued looking for more. 

 

Back at the table, Berkut’s already sallow skin turned a few shades paler. “Are you saying that we are holding foreign royalty within our barracks? Sir, the consequences of that are-”

 

Rudolph, balancing the books in one hand, held a finger up to his mouth to quiet his nephew.

 

“Royalty? No.” Rudolph set a small pile of books in front of Berkut and sat down across from him. 

 

“I assume that in your studies as a knight you learned about an organization known as the Sable Knights?” He asked, carefully opening one of the books and leafing through it.

 

“Of course sir. They’re skill is renown throughout the world,” Berkut responded.

 

“I believe that Ezekiel use to be their leader. That is the reason the Sable Order fell apart; they had no one to command them. Their general fell battle a little over a year ago and was assumed to be dead, until we got word of a possible spy in one of the plains villages.”

 

Berkut still didn’t quite understand, but he had calmed down and was listening intently.

 

“How can you be sure Ezekiel is this Grustian general and not just some villager with delusions of grandeur?”

 

“He has clearly mastered lance techniques that are foreign even to me, I think that is proof enough of his station. I also managed to get this from him a few days ago.” Rudolph slid one of the open books across the table. 

 

Inside was a meticulously detailed blueprint of a Grustian fortress. Judging by it’s design, it would be nearly impenetrable both by land and sea. Rudolph then unrolled a scroll that lay next to the pile of books. On the paper was a nearly identical design, abet with a different signature underneath. The text on both blueprints was written in the same cramped, small handwriting. Berkut leaned back in his seat, unsure of what to say in this truly unique situation. After a few more moments of scanning the undeniable proof in front of him, another question came to Berkut.

 

“Is that why you named him? Because you already knew his name?” He asked, trying and failing to read the signature on the original map. The book was several years old and had clearly suffered some water damage, and so the word was indecipherable. 

 

Rudolph shook his head and crossed his massive arms. “Ezekiel was not his name. I thought he could use a new one, for this new life of his.”

 

“Well, he could still be a spy. He could be faking it, all of it. Especially since he has military training.” Berkut was still unconvinced, despite the evidence.

 

“He could be, there is always that chance, but I still don’t think so. I think he has been honest with us thus far.”

 

“Isn’t it cruel to lie to him like that, sir? What if he has family in Archanea? They must miss him, surely?”

 

“Everyone in Archanea assumes that he is dead. He might actually have a worse time if he goes back there, since Grust fell to Prince Marth’s army.”

 

“What of the military, sir? Surely if they discover their commander is alive, they will want him back?”

 

“If they somehow find out, then yes, we are obligated to hand him over. But I think to do that without prompting would be cruel. He has a life here now, after all.”

 

Berkut looked up from the blueprints, but did not speak. Perhaps he had questioned his ruler enough for one day. 

 

“Even if I told him now what I’ve told you, I don’t think he would leave. When he was locked up in the dungeon all he talked about was a girl named Tatiana; I think the thought of her kept him sane. He doesn’t seem like the kind of man to abandon other’s willingly for something he can’t even remember.” Rudolph leaned back in his chair as well, the expensive wood creaking as he studied the younger man across the table. 

 

“Berkut, you have to promise me you will never repeat what I’ve told you. Not to Ezekiel, not to anyone,” He said, a new layer of seriousness in his tone, “Not even Rinea. Do you understand?”

 

This whole secrecy thing still didn’t sit well in Berkut’s stomach, but his king had just given him an order. “Of course sir. No one has to know.”

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT// Completely rewritten, sorry that I exposed you to the "writing" that was here before TAT!
> 
> So I accidentally deleted one of my game files a few days ago, and I'm using this opportunity to completely fuck up Zeke's classes/stats by making him into a dread fighter? It's going well, all things considered.
> 
> I got this idea after snooping around on the wiki a bit. I figured that a king like Rudolph would probably know all about the weapons and armies of other countries, so he would know who Zeke was (even if Zeke doesn't). Honestly the fact that Emperor Rudolph "treated Zeke as if he was his own son" makes me sad but,,, in a good way.


End file.
